One of those games we got a chance to see for ourselves. A great, open game played at an incredible pace. Boris Mikhaylov’s troops from Novokuznetsk were not afraid to get into a run and gun contest with the one of the KHL’s powerhouses, Ak Bars Kazan. It was also our first chance to see the 16-year old Maxim Kitsyn, the youngest player in the KHL. He’s #91 (sporting a full face shield) on the Metallurg squad.

This week’s must see game features currently the top 2 teams in the KHL. These are also two hottest teams in the league coming into the game on long winning streaks. Atlant won 6 straight while Avangard is on a 7-game winning streak (which coincidentally or not started right after they fired their coach… who said Jaromir Jagr can’t be a player coach?). The game also features the current points leader in the entire league, Sergei Mozyakin of Atlant and the current top goal scorer, Jaromir Jagr (10). New York Rangers prospect Alexei Cherepanov is coming into the match on his own streak having scored goals in 5 straight games and having scored points in 7 straight. If all of this weren’t enough the game also features two former NHL goalies, John Graham of Ak Bars and Ray Emery of Atlant. Both are playing very well so far sporting a .930 save percentage. We just had to check this one out for ourselves and it didn’t disappoint.

Magnitka’s first game after the Victoria Cup game vs. the New York Rangers turned into quite an ill tempered affair. Fans of hockey fisticuffs might want to check this one out. Who says Russians don’t fight?

Another chance to see the 16-year old Maxim Kitsyn, this time in a game vs. last season’s Russian Superliga champs, Salavat. For Salavat this is the last KHL game before they make their debut in the brand new European Champions League.

Super clash between last season’s finalists. We could just leave it at that, but we should add that both clubs are coming into this game red hot and zooming up the RSL standings. Ak Bars Kazan may very well be the most fun hockey team to watch in the world, at the moment. That is if you enjoy fast paced, skillful, old school Soviet style hockey laden with puck possession and weaving pretty patterns around the opposition until they scream for mercy.

You can watch the game in the streaming player or download the file to your computer by clicking the “Open Containing Folder” link below the player, right clicking the file and selecting the “download” option.

For those who are wondering we have not gone to the edge of the Earth and dropped off the cliff. There were a few technical difficulties with the host of the games, which prevented us from posting the last RSL Game of the Week prior to the RSL going on a bit of a hiatus due to the international break for the European Hockey Tour. The technical issues have now been resolved.

To make up for our brief absence watch for 3 great RSL games to be posted later today. The first one will be the aforementioned game that was played just before the break (Lokomotiv Yaroslavl @ Dinamo Moscow). The other two will be games played in recent days since the RSL got back to business and will feature a couple of truly great match-ups: runaway league leaders Salavat Yulayev Ufa @ Avangard Omsk and a battle between last year’s finalists, Ak Bars Kazan @ Metallurg Magnitogorsk.

If there is interest we will also try to post the 2 games that the Russian national team played during the international break in the Euro Hockey Tour vs. Finland and the Czech Republic. Either comment or use the contact form to let us know if you’d like to see these games.

Well, since we’ve just launched and also because we couldn’t pass up this great matchup we’re giving you another game this week. Yes, you’ve already earned a bonus!

The famous Dinamo Moscow (known better in the West as Dynamo) travels to Kazan to take on the resurgent powerhouse Ak Bars. After a surprisingly difficult start to the season the Kazan team is back to its best and climbing the standings. Dinamo, which came into the season with lofty expectations have struggled mightily, but are playing better since replacing Vladimir Krikunov with Czech Vladimír Vůjtek.

We’ve already listed players to watch on Ak Bars in one of the previous RSL GofW posts, so this time we’ll just give you some players to keep an eye on for the Moscovites. #7 is the up and coming Canadian defenseman Mark Giordano who went to play in Russia after a contract dispute with the Calgary Flames; #95 is a veteran of the NHL Daniil Markov who just returned to Russia after spending last season with the Detroit Red Wings; #9 is Canadian center Eric Landry who spent some time in the NHL with Calgary and Montreal; #22 is the tough hitting Oleg Orekhovsky; #13 Minnesota Wild’s prospect Roman Voloshchenko; #17 Alexander Kharitonov who spent a season in the NHL with Tampa Bay Lightning; #27 Dmitriy Afanasenkov who spent last season with the Philadelphia Flyers; #43 Vitaliy Yachmenev, formerly of the Los Angeles Kings and the Nashville Predators and #55 Dinamo’s leading scorer Alexei Badyukov.

Missing from this game is #91 Fedor Fedorov, the younger brother of Sergei Fedorov, who never quite stuck in the NHL. It is a mystery of why not since he’s looked as one of the most exciting players in the RSL this season and very much resembles his famous brother in looks, stature and skating style (maybe not the attitude towards the game). I’m sure you’ll see him in another Dinamo Moscow game after he recovers from injury.

You can watch the game in the streaming player or download the file to your computer by clicking the “Open Containing Folder” link below the player, right clicking the file and selecting the “download” option.

For our first RSL Game of the Week we’ve chosen a recent brawl filled game between Ak Bars Kazan and Traktor Chelyabinsk instead of a game from this past week. The brawl was all over Youtube, blogosphere and even made its way onto ESPN SportCenter, so we think there would be quite a few hockey fans who would like to check out the entire game, which was a quiet exciting affair even when the teams were playing actual hockey rather than kicking the crap out of each other.

Traktor Chelyabinsk is captained by former NHL veteran #13 Andrei Nikolishin and coached by the only Russian enforcer to ever lace them up in the NHL, Andrei Nazarov.

Ak Bars Kazan, a perennial powerhouse in the modern era of Russian hockey, is coming off winning the IIHF Continental Cup. The team features #35 Finnish goalie Mika Noronen, who spent most of his time in the NHL with the Buffalo Sabres; #2 Canadian minor leaguer Raymond Giroux; a number of young NHL prospects #5 Ilya Nikulin (Atlanta Thrashers), #59 Vyacheslav Buravchikov (Buffalo Sabres) who captained Russia in the recent World Junior Championships and #74 tough hitting defenseman Alexei Yemelin (Montreal Canadiens). Also playing for Ak Bars in this game are Montreal veteran #14 Oleg Petrov, RSL stars #25 Danis Zaripov and #42 Sergei Zonovyev as well as former Pittsburgh Penguin #95 Alexei Morozov.

You can watch the game in the streaming player or download the file to your computer by clicking the “Open Containing Folder” link below the player, right clicking the file and selecting the “download” option.We recommend the free VLC media player for playing it.